Month to be joined by west moore who is the author of three books plus Childrens Book in a novel. In his first book came out in 2010. Its called the other west more braided is a bogeyman in 2015 in this most recent book is about baltimore during the arrest and death of freddie great and just come out five days. Thats what that is called but in your folks, you write is a military save your life. What you mean by that. Wes moore i think of the military played an incredibly Important Role in my life where some of the most important times of my life is wearing suits, tshirt and jeans were is very uniform in this country. I was first introduced in the military system actually one is about 13 years old. I was into a military school. And there was issues and challenges and when i was younger, my mom was pregnant when we went to military school. I was eight years old. Every year she said i would send you away. I kept blowing her off and the first time that felt and you can my wrist was about 11 years old braided my mother noticed that i was intentionally hurting people that actually left me. So i can impress people. So finally one day, she left me and she said, im going to send you to military school. And honestly i thought she was kidding or exaggerating. And then finally realized that she wasnt in sheeps intimate to a mandatory military school for a year. I hated it. Those first days there. A runaway little times braided five times in the first days of military school. The longer i stayed, i began to fully understand what it was that they were trying to teach me and also what it was that my mom was trying to teach me. In fact we did live in an interconnected environment. And how everybody was doing in my unit manner to how unit as a whole was doing. And so when ashley finished high school and i had a chance than to, do a collection of things. I decided the things that i actually wanted to do in some electron, as i wanted to lead soldiers. So i wanted to join the army. So for me, the decision to go into the army was a continuation of the fact that had this level of service and how pay for college and that was very helpful. There was also this idea that i felt a debt of gratitude reason felt like it was the introduction of that and really crucial time in my life that really helped made a lot of difference. Peter so what was ruled the 82nd airborne. Wes moore so it was a parent trooper in the 82nd division. My final role in afghanistan was director of operations for the airborne addition. As a long way of saying what we had in terms of information ops, psychological operations and then we had within our entire area of operations which was with the call rce. Regional command in the entire east or region. Where pakistan and afghanistan for each other. Im in charge of the operations for that. At the time, when i was leaving afghanistan, we headed up 1700 paratroopers that were under our command. We were responsible for. It was an amazing and inspiring experience. Peter how is it the you changed after that first year in military school as a 12 your old me too movement. Wes moore yes. I would say the big thing that changed for me was there was this introduction of leadership. What it means and what it meant. In the role that it played in my life. If where i felt like military school give me a chance to in a way a remake of identity. That was important. It was a re a chance for me to y big role. And some other things were there was this very intentional introduction of leadership. And thats matters. Sometimes people say military school, yeah you know, they need discipline. They do pushups when they wake up early. And you do do pushups need to wake up early. It is true. But, that is not what make the experience useful for me. The thing the main nature is useful for me was this introduction to leadership. It is this idea that they were very much going to introduce you to leadership early. In a very deliberate way. Youre in charge of something. Initial basic training or whatever it is. It was her charge of something. Relatively early and relatively small. And its not because thats where your campuses because they want you to get a taste. So if theyre going to put you inside in charge of a hallway. When the dumpsters or whatever. Keep it clean, will congratulate you. If it is dirty, we will help you. And once i notice that youre doing a job, then you will be promoted they can onto the next day. Maybe now youll have a couple of soldiers under command. Then you move up. And so theres this gradual responsibility about the way they try to teach your leadership. That i think are not only useful and important. But also there was something that really give me taste about what was actually important. I knew going in that leading people was important to me. I knew going in the weather it was in the case of leading cadets or soldiers or think about the work that we do now. Being able to be part of the process. To be the person who can help shape and election of organization. That is something that became really important to me. And my development. In the frameworks of how to do it but also the introduction of the complexity of my life was some of the military help. Peter wes moore how did you become scholar. Wes moore the truth is that actually think about the experience quite a bit because the first time i had a real conversation about the world scholarship was actually when i was interning. Merrill baltimore, kurt, a former scholar. And it was less to my internship and he called me into his office and he said of the picture. This is in my office. In the fishery standing there knees pointing to the patrons will. And i am saying that he was not the type of guy who had camera people following him around all of the time. As i him. But, on that day, on the final day of my internship pretty coming in and he said, he thought about scholarship. He knew my grades and my extracurriculars. I told them about it but hadnt thought about it. And victory took was in my its him pointing to the wall. The thing he is pointing at us is progress. And where he was in this picture. There was a moment when he told me about it. As you consider it. He also give me a search of i should talk to about it. And i did just that. I want to talk to scented people. In answer to people that help me with my essays and helping think about how do i express while attorney and a thousand words for the application. I love that story. Because in the office, there is my picture. Im very clear that picture would never happened if the other picture to happen. So it was an experience that i will never forget. Literally thing her plane flew off less than two weeks after 911. And when the nation in the world had just changed immeasurably. At the same time that i was having this experience. And i was shaped very much so fight 911. Especially for the fact because i was military officer creates a chance to Study International relations in a place where i was one of only only a few market studying it. He gave me a chance to truly study american internationals. The my class were from brazil and china nitrous yet. In argentina. Getting a chance to really understand how all of these dynamics take place amongst remarkable people who would become some of my very best friends. Its very special expressly a lot of thanks to kurt. And many others who really helped make that path for me. And how me realize it can actually be real. Peter what your view about taking money from the peoples money Rhodes Foundation what did you tell the others. Wes moore the last question asked me my interview was really spent time in south africa. Im also africanamerican. One of the last questions i was asked as chairman of the board, he said, listen you have been to south africa. Your africanamerican, how can you accept this money knowing the history. Knowing how he made it. And knowing the lives that were lost in order for him to make that money. And i thought about it in a positive you know, i know a few things for sure. One was that he was creating the scholarship. He did not have me in mind to be sitting here as a finalist for the scholarship money. And he is turning in his grave repeatedly knowing that i am here as a finalist for the scholarship aid and the other thing that shows me what progress means. And the fact that there was something that was not at all intended for. That i have it opportunity to not only stand here and utilize it but also have a real obligation richer youre doing something good with it yourself. Peter who fought and bled and built and were able to build in the way that created pathway for me at that moment. Who are in a dream for a world which agreement fight for one that hopefully one day i would do. And for me to have the opportunity and to be there. In that seat. For me to have an opportunity to then take the privilege of that seat and go out and fight the world. I felt it would be disrespectful to them not to. So understanding when youre looking at the history of roads and looking at the history of how to south africa the entire south africa region. In the damage that he did. To the people there. For some personal benefits. Knowing at that time he was the wealthiest man in the world. Its also not lost on the obligation that i know have to you, the benefit that were fought long and hard to have and use that now to make sure that we can create a more just and more fair world. Peter wear. He won i grew up in maryland and in the bronx. I call really two places home. What is baltimore. Actually where you live now that even though was actually born actually closer to the dc area. In the new york press been a lot of my childhood after my dad died. So when dad was a radio personality Janet Baltimore in the dc area. And one day he was complaining about his throat. And was saying how it was bothering him. And we went to the hospital that day. If he went to the hospital he was wearing friday had uneven beard. A lot of assumptions were made about my dad when he walked into the hospital that day. Looking for help and when my mom came into the hospital to join him they asked her questions like is your husband prone to exaggeration. They give them instructions to go home and rest and got worse, then come back. In five hours after they released him, he died. This morning were living down in maryland. My mom had really difficult time in the transition of the point. So the call of the grandparents who were living in the rocks in the grandfather was a minister. And my mother was a schoolteacher. The south bronx. The house was barely big enough for them. So they were trying to figure out a big weight picking up all of us. So moving up there, and that that point i spent six or seven years of my childhood there before a ended up going to go through school. My childhood was a lot of moving around. No matter where we move from my new header remarkable living family. Who is blessed to be able to say what they had, they tried to provide for us the best they could. And its always something that i felt. Peter from your first book, the other wes moore. My father was dead after five years after having been released from the hospital with simple instructions to get sleep. The same hospital preparing to sins by tomorrow. He had entered the hospital seeking help but is face was unshaven, his close shovel in the same unfamiliar in his address not in an affluent area. The hospital wanted him and insulted him with ridiculous questions and basically told him to fend for himself. Now my mother had to plan his funeral. What you think those assumptions for me. C1 racewes moore race. I think it is where we are now and when people say, and what point in your life did you know i understand the impact of gracerace. People were treated d. And when i think about the many systems that we have in place in our society whether its our Healthcare System are our education. Whether its thinking about Environmental Justice or educational things. It is impossible to talk about these things without understanding the role the race place. It is impossible to understand these things the systemic racism place. It is the fact that those factors been different, that have been mentioned before. There wouldve been dealt given that it benefited doubt been given, we would not of had the same type of result. This is something that i know is not just anecdotal. There is data the continues that raises one of the most predictable indicators like outcomes. Across several areas. Across education, cross mortality. Across mental and physical health read the thing that made that real in my case, in the case of my father. In the case of thinking about my family history. Is this idea that i know its inescapable to not understand the race, the impact of race. Peter who was the other wes moore. Wes moore a man, a young man who i heard about. Actually the same time i was getting ready to head off to england and as a baltimore son, they had an article about this little kid who just received this rhodes scholar. They were writing about my background in childhood and the fact that just ten years ago, i had an caps on my wrist enough ten years later, i was getting ready to help on a full scholarship. And what that looked like in the. Then run the same time, they were also writing about another. And these robberies where four guys went into a jewelry store. In the first two guys went in, they had guns. They got everybody in the ground. In the next two guys walked into the jewelry store, he pulled out mallets. One moved to the rafted one moved to the right. The one on the gun to people in the ground and the one of the mallets were smashing out jewelry cases. There were taking out jewelry. They got about 4000 of the jewelry that day. And all four of them ran out of the store. One of the people inside the store that day was off duty police officer. He was a 13 year veteran from a Baltimore Police force. He was a threetime recipient of a police of the year and he had just had triplets and he had five kids. It was his day off. And he took on a second job to make extra money. And when he ended up, then at the store. He got up off of the ground and drew his weapon and ran outside to stop the guys from getting away. And when he ran outside, hed try to give himself cover but what he didnt realize that one of the vehicles that was next to him, was one of the vehicles they were in. And when a rodeo and he was shot at pointblank range and killed instantly. And there ended up being a 12 day National Manhunt for this for guys. In all four guys part. And one had been captured and tried for the crime. Was one of the guys whos also name was wes moore. The more i learned about this crime. The more i learn about this tragedy. Often times in newspaper articles. The more i knew there were questions i wanted to ask. So one day i just decided to write a note in the first note i wrote him, hey west, my name is west. I heard about you this way. I knew where he was at the time so right there. In about a month later got a letter back from the Correctional Institution from westmore. In that one letter was fascinating to me. All of his answers, and that one letter turned into dozens of letters and dozens of visits. I have now known him for over 17 years and he is now in your 20 of his life sentence. Him and his older brother and two other guys were there. There the day of the crime. So that is who he was. In that initial letter really turned into something in the way that i thought about this. It really did help join our lives together. The chilling truth is historic couldve been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his rated in health and that Decision Making is. Sometimes it is about the small decisions that we make that we sometimes accidentally fall into. Sometimes the decisions that are made for us. Sometimes its a lack of options that we half of the decisions that we make. But how do society, we can not be so eager to congratulate the most we are actually willing to dig into their background and understand the things that make our stories rich and that make them real. And how to understand the neighborhoods. And the fact that for far too many more children, were screaming to them about what we want for them and what we expect from them. I remember once wes moore said to me, we were talking about baltimore prayed in the fact that we were living blocks away from each other in baltimore. And he to me, and i assume, do you think we are products of our environment. Talking about baltimore. And even said to me, actually think were products of our expectations. And susie said that to me, i thought to myself he is absolutely right. We are products of our expectations. And someone said to me thats a real shame that you lived up to years he did it. Nice actually the real shame is that we both did. Because in many ways, thats exactly how we have structured the societal system where people are continually living up to their expectations. So then the question becomes what expectations do we actually have. Peter and you quote the other wes moore talk to you. Your first book, who is wes moore. Both of us did some pretty wrong stuff when we were younger about the fuss at Second Chances. The situation on the context we make the decision, no change. The Second Chances dumped me too much. Wes moore and also, it is interesting to see is the Second Chances and for what. And i think that is the think that was important for me to be able to appreciate and understand and to be able to share. Is that every one of us needs Second Chances. It is not one of us who live our lives like anything is good. I tell people all the time, to sue the state, my days now are two steps forward and one step back. It is now. So the idea of getting Second Chances or whatever. That is a very humanistic need that will consistently be there. But were were not structured to do as a society is to have any form of parity or equal portions of what exactly that means. Right now we still no need to look at data reinforces it from everything a measure from our criminal justice systems, educational systems that we have massive disparities when it comes to everything from racing class about how these Second Chances are actually allocated and what we actually need Second Chances four. The fact is that we have people who are living in poverty, is like when people say, how does poverty show itself. In every way is the answer. And people drinking, the water that there drinking. It is how their beliefs are. Is what transportation act that you have around you. So unfortunately, if you are creating this concentrated level of poverty and injustice that it exists. And often times colorcoded poverty that exists. We also know this idea behind Second Chances really becom